Disaster strikes for Lauren and Joey

Joey continues urging Alice to see that Derek is dangerous and that she should leave before he turns violent with her too. Alice agrees to move back in with their mum, but Joey confesses to Lauren in private that he actually punched himself in an attempt to set up Derek. Soon afterwards, Derek confronts Lauren at the gym and reveals that he knows about her relationship with Joey. He orders her to get Joey to meet him at the car lot in an hour's time, otherwise he will expose them.

Lauren's efforts to track down Joey lead her to The Vic, where she finds herself in an argument with Lucy and Whitney when they badmouth Joey. When Joey arrives, he pulls the girls apart, but Lucy orders Lauren to choose between Joey and them. Lauren immediately chooses Joey before pulling him aside to reveal Derek's threats. The pair realise that their best option would be to leave Walford.

Putting a drastic plan into action, Joey steals Derek's car so that he and Lauren can flee. They drive past the car lot and Joey shouts abuse at Derek before they speed off into the night. As the journey continues, the pair have a playful squabble over the radio and Lauren takes her eye off the road for a moment. Lauren's moment of distraction means that she has to swerve to avoid a parked car, and she soon loses control of the vehicle. As a result, Lauren and Joey end up crashing into a shop window…

Meanwhile, Cora rushes home after coming face-to-face with Ava. She isn't best pleased when Patrick reveals that he helped Tanya to find Ava, but when Cora calms down, she finally tells the full story of Ava's background. Cora explains that Ava's father had deserted her before she found out she was pregnant, while her parents later forced her to put Ava up for adoption because they were ashamed.

Realising she'll have to face up to the situation, Cora goes to see Ava, who explains that she has always avoided tracking her down because she didn't want to rake up the past. Ava explains that she still feels the same way, and Cora's grief overwhelms her once Ava has gone.